Skylink
by burnt
Summary: Energon heat flared to my arms, igniting in the base of all four of my blasters. I was sick of Decepticon lies! I was sick of this femme! Hate poured through me in a churning wave. Raf was yelling at me to stop, but suddenly Shane was there, right beside Skylink. I started to rush forward when she grabbed him, my blasters burning with building power...
1. Remade

Pain. At first there was nothing else. Only pain. Nothing else could be processed until the terrible pain diminished. Time passed slowly. Achingly slow. Every breem seemed an entire orn. There was no relief. No recharge, no way to shut down. All the way down to the smallest circuit, a burning pain so deep only the acid of the pit could be hotter. Was that a thought? The first thought to emerge through the pain was of that harrowing place. Hell, as the humans say.

Terrible whirring, wailing, electric screams refused to end. When the bot finally processed this it immediately tried to cut the sounds off, closing its mouthplate and venting sharply. It was no use, it's body twitched uncontrollably, the silver mouthplate opened wide to release another scream so high in pitch even even it couldn't process all the decibels. The pain would not end... And yet, it already knew how to end it. All it had to do was give in. It could feel a twisted, evil presence pulsing all around it, demanding access to the deepest part of its spark. No.. NO! Still it refused, it's processors still functioned enough to fight. A sparkbond could not be taken or stolen, only willingly given.

'Let me sooth your pain, little one' the voice was not relief, it was like a grinding, twisted blade rammed into its audio sensors, all around it, inside its processors. Its optics were shuttered. There was only darkness and pain, terrible, ripping, energon spilling, spark eating pain! Another scream sounded, almost as painful as the terrible voice. Was that it screaming?

Then it all stopped. The pain slipped away and it thanked Primus in a small whisper. A phantom hand stroked over the trembling spark, soothing its pain and pushing delicious warmth through it. A sigh escaped it and it's chassis twitched in the darkness and another warm spark came into contact with it's once more. Beautiful release. It wrapped around it, kind and protective... Gently demanding it open. _Was I offline? I'd never had a bonded. A sparkmate. Perhaps one bonded with Primus upon fully offlining..._ An innocent thought... How could it deny such a powerful, overwhelming force? With a shuddering sigh it opened itself up to the incredible presence. If this encompassing peace was to be offline, was Primus... It wanted nothing more, except this.

A ridged spinal column arched up off the cold surface it was laying limply on as the bond took hold. Pleasure rushed through it, so at odds with the pain it had just suffered that it released another scream. It became more aware. It was an Autobot femme! Bonding with a living mech and not Primus! This was real! She was alive still! She immediately tried to yank back only to have searing pain tear through her, straight from her spark! A metallic whimper escaped her as she rattled against the floor.

'Too late to turn back, little femme.' That voice. That dangerous voice spoke straight from the spark in her chest and another pathetic cry unwillingly tore from her vocal processor. 'Shhhhhhh, no more pain for you. Trust youngling, I will not hurt you. If only you opened to me sooner.' The words brought more relief. More warmth. She knew somewhere in her processors that this was wrong, those words were sick and shameless lies but they warped her, soothed her and she could not resist. It was no mere mech she was now forever bonded to. This was no mech...

The dark and invasive energy that was Him wrapped around her very essence, dominating. A rush of power surged through her like renewed energon as her chassis lifted off the cold surface. Strength poured through her and her optics flicked on with a blinding violet light that lit the darkness. She pushed at the invisible force holding her suspended, twisting and turning in the air... As she was remade. In a matter of agonizing kliks she was stripped bare by an unseen force, down to nothing but her substructure of wires pumping energon around a glowing violet spark. There wasn't even time enough to scream before the pain faded and the new superstructure fazed into existence with nothing more than a thought, it seemed, of this great Being.

Then she was dropped down, her optics wide as she took in the sight. Once smooth and silver servos where now dark with hard pointed tips, like claws... The pain claws like those inflict was a dark place in her memory banks. Decepticon! _Please... Not this! Anything but this!_

"No! No! Noooo! I am an Autobot! Please! Not this!" She wailed, but there was only the same empty chamber, with no doors and no windows and no escape. Her prison.

"You will go to this planet Earth. You will seek out and you will join the Decepticons. You will allow Megatron to lead you. But he is not your master. You are Skylink. Who do you serve, Skylink?" The rumbling voice spoke slowly as though he were falling into a stasis lock.

"That is not my designation!" Her hissed, finding courage in her sudden anger. No sooner had the words left her vocals that a scream followed. She reached up to tear at the now dark chest plates only to be frozen in place as her spark was all but crushed. Never had she known such deep pain, not like before. He now had access to the deepest, most vulnerable part of her. "You! Y-you! I-I am Skylink. I s-serve you." Instantly the pain eased and she fell heavily down once more and lay, rattling in the aftermath of the agony. Immediately warmth spread through her, stroking against her spark, easing her pain. She knew now why he had bonded with her. She was now his puppet.

"Who is your Master, tiny spark?" The voice was lower now, tired but no less threatening. No less evil.

"Y-you. I am Skylink." Skylink whispered the name as she curled into a trembling ball, helplessly soothed and comforted by this overwhelming dark spark.

"Yesss." He was pleased with her, and she tried to fight the thrill that leapt in her spark at the feel of his pleasure radiating to her. "Recharge now." And she could only obey...

* * *

_The small planet was helpless before me. My great horns hooked into the energy rich, helpless planet and drew it into my twitching centre. I dug into it. Pulling, digging, grinding, devouring... I released a groan of pleasure as my long dormant systems began to online, as the energy, the power flowed through me, bringing new life. There was no escape for even a single fleeing craft. I would devour them all..._

Skylink yanked herself out of recharge, tense, as the visions faded, panic and fear churning through her systems. Weak, pathetic feelings... She was a strong Autobot femme. She did not know fear or weakness. At least not before Him... _Will I be haunted by these sick visions now that I was..._ A klik passed before she processed the darkness around her. It was different.

Space. Empty space. Even a star was not close enough to be more than a speck to her optics. Even still... She was unsure of how long she'd been held captive and tortured in the depths of the Planet Eater. Did the Autobots even still exist... Yes, why else would he be sending her to Earth? She looked upon herself and choked on a cry. Her Autobot frame was gone. Where once was pale blue was now azure, the color of the precious Earth sky covered much of the smaller plates lining her substructure. The white was gone. Not a single speck of soft and light colour remained. Just the opposite. The white was now black, and bathed in violet light as she looked to it. What could be seen of her substructure was now deep grey instead of brilliant silver. Her blazing blue optics were forever gone... _At least they aren't red._ Her shoulders were tipped with spikes as well as her elbow and knee joints. She refused to turn to her diagnostics for the details and instead reached up, twitching as a claw dug effortlessly into her faceplate. Ignoring the sting she swept her servos up and over her head. It was relatively smooth, no horns. With a sigh she thanked Primus. Her servos brushed against sensitive metal at her back and she whipped her head around. Wings! Skylink groaned in disgust.

"You disgusting glitch of a rusted planet! How dare you make me into this!" Skylink screeched at the incomprehensibly huge mass in front of her.

"Perhaps I must show you your place once more, little thing... Insignificant femme." The voice was outside of her, coming from the massive robotic planet before her. The planet so incomprehensibly huge her optics could not process anything beyond it. But still, she felt relief. The voice was not all around her. It was not inside her. Praising Primus, she felt hope! She was free! A thrill shot through her and she immediately began to transform, suddenly grateful that this new body was an aircraft. The power of flight meant she could escape Him. Right. Now.

A deep laugh sounded. "Yes, my little thing. Go now and join the Decepticons on that wrecked organic planet. You will show them your power and become a voice in Megatron's ear. Through you, I shall guide him."

"I hate you with all of my spark!" Skylink yelled back at him and received another sickening laugh in response. Her sleek alt mode was a truly powerful creation. She could feel the energon rush, all the way down to twin afterburners to ignite with a blazing white flame. She had not known such power as an Autobot, but she would happily trade it all away and float in space for eternity to only have wheels once more...

As Skylink tore away from Him at a speed she could not even register without diagnostics he pressed against her spark again, to the point of searing pain. With a yelp the jet fighter spun out, spinning blind in the unending darkness until finally his hold on her spark gentled and she managed to straighten out.

'As you should, my Skylink.' His voice was deep in her audio sensors. A comlink. Skylink's energon heated with disgust and she pushed more power to her engines, knowing the com could only have so much distance to it. Her location popped up before her optics and she instantly changed course... The distance to Earth was beyond imagination and she felt a rush of relief. He would have to devour more planets than there were in existence to make it that far. With a low beep the course reset to a closer planet and she felt a hungry thrill from him. It was his destination also. 'Their space bridge.' He spoke again. He was several stellar cycles away from reaching that planet... She was to use their space bridge to jump to other systems. _Does he know I sense his intent?... _

'Foolish femme. There is nothing I do not know. If you warn them I will punish you. Surely you do not wish for my wrath once more, little speck.' Skylink nearly spun out once more when her frame shook violently, a small sound twisted up in her vocals before she trampled down her fear.

'I wish you would offline! Pit-spawn!' She screamed back through the horrible comlink and then froze, afterburners flickering as she waited for the terrible pain.

What she got was a booming laugh in response, 'Sparkling, I Am The Pit. And you, my sweet, little Autobot speck are truly a pit-spawn.'

When his torturous words finally resisted in Skylink's processor Horror and fear and panic tore through her so viciously that she transformed with a whir of noise and spun violently through the empty space, unable to control herself. His pleasure at her response to his appalling words touched her spark. _How could I be so foolish?_ Her processor had refused to accept who she was truly sparkbound to. In her processor her denial had somehow shrunk this Death God down to an over large and powerful mech. Someone she could fight and defeat... But this was no normal mech. Chaos Bringer... Devourer of Planets... Primus' eternal rival. The Pit. The Corrupter. She was forever bound to... Fear overwhelmed her suddenly. Panic like burning energon surged through her as her systems began methodically shutting down as energon rushed upward in an attempt to preserve her processor. _I can't go on. I refuse to go on. I'm a pit-spawn! A corrupted, lesser being! Controlled mindlessly by the Dark God!_ Red light began flashing before her optics as her systems went haywire. Total system failure imminent...

Suddenly Skylink's chassis arched out of the ball she'd curled into, still hurtling through empty space from the sheer force of the speed she'd been going in her alt mode. Then heat surged through her, straight from her spark, instantly calming the ravaged systems. The red flashing faded, and the words slipped away along with the fear. Enveloping warmth spread through her systems, along with a dark moan of pleasure that was not her own. There was no way to fight it. She could only surrender as she was lost in a spark large enough to swallow her entire form. 'Who is your Master?' The spike of fear at that voice was instantly squashed by heat and pleasure.

'Unicron.'


	2. Kitten

Earth was so... Bright. Skylink once again tempered the joy that threatened to run through her. How she had missed Earth. Since the fall of Cybertron, Earth had become a second home to her and many Autobots... And many Decepticons. She considered attempting to destroy herself at landfall... But all it would do was cause her more pain. She would probably suffer until Unicron chose to rebuild her once more. There was no peace in offlining for her.

There had been no touch from her Master in the last while... Not since he had so _mercifully _rebuilt her before yanking away from her salvation, Primus... the Well. Time had become irrelevant as she passed through space. She'd spent the last of her time in space processing multiple scenarios. None of them relevant to landfall. Warnings flashed before her optics. Entering the atmosphere was more damaging than expected. Her natural resistance to heat was clearly not enough. She didn't remember it being this painful before... Of course, she had entered earth inside a large spacecraft, not with her own precious metal exposed.

It burned enough to make Skylink shoot forward in an attempt to get through quicker, but speed couldn't save her. Red warning flared in front of her optics as her engines sputtered and sparks burned through her control systems. She couldn't remember the last time she'd even saw an energon source let alone actually had it replenished. Maybe Unicron had actually filled her with some sort of energon that never diminished?

As though Skylink deserved further punishment, a nano-klik after she processed the thought her systems warned of severely depleted energon, hence the engine trouble. She let them flicker out with a pained sign as she finally saw clouds. Fascinating things. She tumbled carelessly toward the Earth, wings making her descent a crawl compared to the speed she was capable of. In a slow horizontal spin, Skylink took in her surroundings with alt mode hidden optics. She shut down the blaring warnings and attempted to relax despite the searing pain that refused to fade. _I probably look like the charred organic meat, humans rather enjoy._ The ridiculous process lightened her spark and her anxiety of the future slipped away. _I could almost recharge..._

The howling wind snapped Skylink out of near stasis as mountainous terrain was suddenly much too close! Her engines roared to life before completely failing but not before pushing her to a much higher velocity. _Frag! Shouldn't I have some sort of built in slagging landing data!?_ Was the last process, before her nose hit rocky terrain and sent her into a deadly vertical spin, was of the sheer force of her intense hate for flying, then there was only darkness...

* * *

"Holy good God!" Shane hit the breaks of hard. The F150 fishtailed, leaving marks on the pavement. The sun disappeared and the sky went dark as something passed in front of the white truck. The asphalt cracked and gave way as a massive plane hit the road with a bang so loud it could have been an explosion, before continuing on at a sickening speed, and flipping tail over nose into the rocky terrain off the left side of the road.

He didn't think twice before whipping the steering wheel to the left and tearing after it. Off road was nothing for the Ford, hell, that was why he bought and modified the darn thing. Still, this was something else! Breaking hard, dark, calloused hands gripped the leather wrapped wheel while leaning forward. He jerked the wheel left and right avoiding all the rubble he could. Shane swerved to the left as the rocky path opened up into flat land. He could hardly see the wreck, that's how much further the thing had went. There had to be nothing left!

"Come on, man. You got this!" Shane spoke to his truck, and silently sent a prayer up. "Please let that thing be empty." There was a massive cloud of dust up a head, and surprisingly no debris from the plane, just rubble from the ground all around the massive rut caused when it finally stopped tumbling, smacked down and skidded forward for at least half a mile!

The truck fishtailed again as Shane came up on the wreck too fast, and breaked hard. He looked out at the dark shape in the dust cloud, ignoring the shake in his hands of he released the white knuckle grip.

"It's a jet! A goddamn fighter jet..." Shane spoke out loud as he hopped out of the truck. He reached back to the first aid kit under his seat. The dust was starting to settle and it looked like it was still in one piece. Just beat up real bad... Plus it was laying upside down. "How the hell is this even possible..."

Shane moved toward the cockpit. The thing seemed a lot bigger than the jets he'd seen at museums. Kneeling down, he couldn't see anything through the cockpit glass but it was cracked and covered in dirt. Something wet dripped onto his brown, work boot and Shane skipped back, looking up. From between two charred panels dripped a thick fluid. There was no way it was fuel. It was bright, almost glowing blue with a purple tint. Keeping his dark eyes on the panels he knelt down again and wiped away the dirt on the glass, except below that the glass was scored with soot. He scrubbed harder with the side of his hand. There was a noise, loud, like a groan before he felt a tremor beneath his hand. "Dang!" Shane jerked back so fast he fell heavily onto his butt. The thing was moving! The jet was MOVING!

Shane scrambled back as dust and rocks rained down. A whirring noise sounded like something was sort of powering up before the plane started to literally come apart. He rolled away further as a the panels broke apart. The nose and cockpit literally folded downward while the rest of the plane shook and twisted. A loud electric groan sounded like someone in pain using auto-tune.

The ground shook beneath his boots and the whirring noise seemed to stall out, while another higher pitched, more pained sound rang in his ears. The noise intensified suddenly as the panels ground together and snapped into place. The voice cried out in pain and he fell back again as whatever it was hit the ground hard and was still.

"Primus take me, please." Shane clapped a hand over his mouth as a voice sounded, loud and in plain, damn English!

It felt like minutes before the dust finally settled again and he took a breath. Shane could now see what was before him. He was a big man. At 6'4 he towered over almost everyone he knew. He'd never once felt small in his entire life. But this... It had to be over 20 feet long! Maybe more. It was all sprawled out. There were arms and legs and a head! Most of the body was black but a lot of it looked charred. The head was blue and black though. It clearly had a human shape and it spoke English. "It's a robot. A freakin robot. That plane just turned into a freakin robot..." Saying it out loud didn't help anything. It couldn't be real...

Giant hands smacked into the earth and fingers with pointed tips like claws bent and dug into the ground as it pushed itself up. A face turned toward him. But, the face was surprisingly human. Almost like a person wearing a helmet. It was the eyes that locked him in place even though every inch of him was screaming to run for it. They were black where a person's would be white, with glowing purple irises. Darker purple distinguished the centre of the eyes, like a pupil, as well as a darker ring near the edge of the of the iris. The face was a dark grey metal, but obviously feminine. There were even lips, slightly darker grey. It was a woman! It had to be... How could he just walk away from something like this? She was in pain. Those eyes, that face, the trembling body... It was all so... Human.

The robot pushed herself into a sitting position and moaned in pain before putting a huge hand against her... Chest. Which looked kinda girly too. The cracked glass cockpit was centered at her middle, the tip ending at a waist that seemed small compared to the rest of her. There was even a feminine curve to her legs. He could see the tip of a missile past each black metal shoulder and behind that was what had to be the main wings of the jet, making her even taller.

It was just too much to take in... And the pain in her eyes...

"Begone, human!" Her voice broke the silence and Shane jumped, backing away. The voice was a little deeper and more electronic, like she was trying to scare him off, but it was at odds with the look in her strange eyes. He took a deep breath and proceeded, of course, recklessly...

"What are you going to do? Bleed that weird stuff on me?" Shane asked her and looked right into those massive eyes, the only sign of the tension in him was a shaky hand that ran over his shaved head. Those strange eyes went surprisingly wide with shock before they lowered to the puddles of the stuff splattered around her.

"You should fear me, human. I'm not of your world." She spoke again, but he decided to ignore the warning, while keeping a good distance back.. She sounded even more human now.

"I can see that." Shane snapped back, gaining another look of shock from those weird eyes. He didn't know why but she seemed like a kid all the sudden. It was her expressive eyes. Or maybe more like a teenager. "Are you a... Girl?" He asked and inched forward.

She turned those eyes away and looked down at her body once more. She didn't answer, only lifted a hand and trailed dark claws over a massive dent in the top of her left thigh, before looking at her hand in clear disgust then closing her fist. "I said, begone!"

Shane laughed this time, "you're about as threatening as a kitten, kid. Even with those claws." Her eyes actually closed for a split second, seeing the dark metal close around the glow was the strangest thing, before they snapped open again.

"K-kid?" She stuttered the word and the blaze of her eyes dimmed for a millisecond. Shane almost smiled when she glared at him as if she had just answered her own question. "I am no youngling, human!" The words were an angry hiss.

"I know a little girl when I see one." Shane replied, moving closer still as he brushed the dirt off his white, now brown, t-shirt and then his blue jeans.

"Your optics need repairing." Came a bitter reply after a few seconds and it took him a minute to figure out exactly what she just said. When he did he laughed, and it drew her attention once more. She noticed when he moved closer this time. Instantly that massive body twitched and she scooted away. "Stay back, foolish human!"

"I'm not gonna hurt you." Shane answered but stopped when her lips turned up a bit before she let out a half hearted laugh.

"Of that I am aware... But I might accidentally crush your soft, tiny form. Leave. Now." She demanded, the smile gone from her strange, metal face.

"I wouldn't feel right about leaving a little girl like you all alone out here." Shane answered moving a bit closer.

"You fool of a human! I could offline you without even processing it fully!" Shane didn't say anything for a minute after her outburst, trying to figure out exactly what she meant.

"My name is Shane." He was close enough now that he had to look up at her. "What's yours?" It was like talking to the chimney on the top of a house, and she wasn't even standing. When she didn't answer or even look at him, he added, "I'll just call you kitten, then?"

"Bli... My designation is... Skylink." Shane jumped when she finally replied then scrambled back when she fell limply to the side, her eyes going dark, like someone flicked the off switch. He dodged the hand that hit the ground where he'd been standing, literally like a ton of bricks. Her eyes flicked back on after less than five seconds, "human!?" She cried, fear in her booming voice.

"I'm here!" He skirted around the massive hand that twitched as if trying to move. The moment she saw him she let out a sigh of relief and let herself go limp again. "I'm fine, Skylink. You didn't squish me."

"Thank Primus." Came a low reply. Her strange lips moved, forming the words just like a person. Her eyes were dim and he moved closer to her face that was partially pressed against the ground but turned toward him. She was laying mostly on her front and her hand curled toward him. He moved closer to her face, watching the hand that could easily wrap around most of his body. "I won't hurt you, that is truth." Shane turned back to her face and slowly lowered myself down into a crossed legged sitting position. He was close enough now that her eyes were almost too bright to look at for too long. Her dark grey, metal hand settled around him, almost protectively but did not touch him.

"You're not gonna... Go offline on me are ya?" Shane asked carefully, remembering what she'd said earlier.

"I would, if I were able." Her voice was quiet now.

"What do ya mean, Skylink?" He asked not quite sure what to think. When she didn't answer he continued, "Its a pretty name."

Suddenly her eyes lit up like blazing purple torches and her face seemed to turn into a hateful scowl. "I hate it." Was all she said.

"You prefer kitten?" Shane asked, raising a dark brow in question. The scowl disappeared into an obvious look of disgust and he almost laughed as her eyes dimmed down a bit.

"I have all the knowledge of Earth, human. I know that a kitten's creation occurs within a stellar cycle before it becomes a cat and is nearly helpless before then!" She practically growled the words before her face fell and she frowned sadly. "Perhaps it is disgustingly appropriate right now."

"Hey now... You did fall out of the sky less than a couple hours ago." She didn't reply, only continued to stare at him. Shane put a hand up to shade his eyes for a second. "Can you dim those headlights, Kitten?" She seemed to almost flinch at his words, then she frowned, but her eyes abruptly dimmed. He blinked his own brown eyes in relief. "What's a kid like you doing crash landin out here anyway, and how can we get you some help?" The question made her eyes suddenly widen.

"You must go, human... Shane. There are others. I don't have the strength to protect you. The Autobots would not harm you... Most of my systems are offline. Slaggit! My processor is slower than a sharkticon!" He had no clue what she was talking about. "Radar, energon sensor, completely offline." She seemed like she was talking to herself, which was fine since Shane had no clue what she was talking about.

"Calm down, kid. We'd hear if anyone... Like you, was coming, wouldn't we? Your ears aren't offline, I take it?" She looked at him like he had two heads.

"A seeker could overtake us much faster than the speed of sound." She replied as if he should know better before moving her hand away and digging her fingers into the ground again. "There is a ground vehicle approaching." She spoke urgently and when he tried to jump up he was pushed roughly back down. She pushed her arm forward and turned her head toward the approaching vehicle. "Hide, foolish human!"

"It's just a car! Probably someone else who saw you-" Shane cut off and ducked down when someone jumped out the passenger seat and the car stood up. "Oh damn... That car just grew legs."

"Be quiet, human!" Skylink hissed quietly. "And I told you to hide!" He didn't reply and did as he was told. Suddenly she let out a shaky breath. "He may be an Autobot, Shane. They protect humans." Shane peeked past her head again only to see the twin barrels of some kind of gun, pointed directly at Skylink.

Shane took a deep breath, then skirted around her head and slid over a charred wing. He walked toward the other robot, hands in the air. "Human! R-return!" She cried but he kept walking slowly forward and saw the approaching robot falter upon seeing him. "Slag!"

The ground shook and Shane turned around as Skylink dove overhead to land in a crouch, completely shielding him from the approaching robot. She lifted her left arm, her hand in a fist as something popped out of her forearm, a weapon of some kind. It was all like something out of a sci-fi fantasy! Her right knee crashed down after a second and her right arm hung limply as she teetered.

"Lower your weapon." A voice boomed across the distance.

Shane ran up, ducking under her raised arm and put his arms up again. "Human! Stop!" She darted forward again, trying to force him behind her. "Shane, don't be a fool! I never said it was an Autobot! My sensors are offline!"

"Ooooooohhhhh, right," Shane slowly backed up, losing some of his nerve. The robot moved quickly toward them now. It was black and yellow with glowing blue eyes and the cannons pointed at them were significantly larger than the twin barrels on Skylink's forearm. Not only that but she was shaking like a leaf, or... Well, a really big tree. _Screw it!_ "You lower _your_ weapon, Bud!"

"But that's a Decepticon!" Shane looked at the robot. It didn't sound like that a second ago... That's when he noticed the kid. Probably about 15, peeking around a huge, black and yellow metal leg. Spikey brown hair... Glasses. Teenager. Hanging out with a 20 foot tall robot?

"I don't know what a... That is, but it sounds bad, and that's probably not what she is!" Shane yelled over the distance. "She's just a kid! And she's beat up real bad so the last thing she needs is you shoving a gun in her face!"

"I told you I'm not a youngling, you stubborn fleshy!" The words sounded behind him just before the ground shook as she crashed down again, kicking up a cloud of dust.

The kid suddenly rushed forward. "Raf! Wait, we don't know..." The walking car trailed off when the boy pointedly ignored him. The robot's voice was masculine but young sounding itself, plus those wide circular eyes added to the image. Another robot kid? With what sounded like an auto-tuned sigh, he quickly approached behind the teen.

"It really is a girl, Bee!" The kid excitedly yelled up to his car and with another sigh the guns disappeared beneath its arm panels, much like Skylink's, except bigger.

"Careful, Raf." The towering robot's eyes flickered for a moment. "Confirmed. Femme. Seeker, alt mode: unknown to Earth, non-Decepticon, non-Autobot. Severe energon depletion. Superstructure intact: extensive damage. Moderate substructure damage. 56% of major systems offline. Energon line severed in sect..ions..." The boy was giving the car a look and it awkwardly lifted a black hand to its head in a very human gesture, while smiling a little. "In other words, yeah, she's beat up real bad."

Shane grinned while watching the two of them, almost tempted to copy the robot... This was all just too much. "So you gonna help a fellow bot or what, big guy?" He asked after a second.

"You think these too are big... You should see-" The kid started to say but cut off when the robot made a high pitched, weird-ass computer noise. "Okay, okay, well he already knows more than most people..." _What in the..._

"Stay back, mech! I don't need your assistance!" Skylink practically hissed at the 'mech' as he closed in, her body twitching as she tried to move, reminding Shane even more of an angry kitten. The robot stopped. He took another step closer and her eyes went wide... like she was panicking. "I said stay back!" Yup, there was no mistaking it. This, giant, busted up alien robot was scared.

"Bee, you're scaring her!" This Raf had some sense at least and Bee looked down at the boy, those round eyes showing confusion but he didn't move any closer. Raf turned and faced those panicking purple eyes. "Hey, it's okay. Bee's not gonna hurt you. Isn't that right, Bee?" He said, looking over his shoulder and up at the robot. Her glowing eyes shifted from the boy and up to the robot who kneeled down slowly, without moving any closer. It answered with a series of whirs and blips that literally sounded like a computer trying to talk as she looked to its face. Some of the panic seemed to leave her.

"Hey, Am I the only one here who can't understand that weird crap? In English please." Shane spoke up, eyes locked on the other robot.

"Bee promised not to hurt her. He's a real good guy. The best." Raf met Shane's eyes for a second then looked back to Skylink. "I'm Raf and this is Bumblebee. He's an Autobot and I'm his partner." The kid explained and somewhat shyly slipped his hands into his blue jean pockets.

"I'm Shane and this is Skylink. And she needs help. Right now." Shane spoke up, starting to get frustrated. "Stop being stubborn, Kitten. Let the big robot help you."

Her eyes flicked and she turned a purple glare on Shane. "I told you not to call me that, human!" Bumblebee moved closer.

"What are you going to do, scratch me up with those kitty claws?" Shane grinned and her eyes went wide in shock. There was a whirring noise as the slightly larger robot's hand transformed into a bunch of odd tools. Panic flooded her face and suddenly her whole body arched up off the ground. The robots hand quickly shifted back and he grabbed hold of her around her chest and squeezed.

"Back up!" The Autobot yelled and the humans wisely backed away. "Don't do that, femme. Calm your circuits. I promised I wouldn't hurt you and I meant it. You can't transform right now, that would do more harm then good. Calm yourself... I won't hurt you..."

There was the sound of air rushing through a vent before she abruptly went limp in the other robot's arms. "Skylink!?" Shane yelled, heading back over some of the distance they'd run.

"It's alright, Shane. Your femme is only in temporary stasis. It won't last long." Bumblebee explained as Raf and Shane moved closer. He gently rolled her over to her back, careful of her wings. His hand transformed to those strange tools once more and he went to work after carefully prying open a panel under her left arm. "She's all burnt up, poor femme. She must have come though the atmosphere. There's too much damage, Raf. We need to take her back to base."

"I know... But you can't just carry her down the highway, Bee. And no one is there to activate the ground bridge." Raf replied after a minute of thinking. "We could go back, activate the bridge to this position and come through and get her."

"How long is that gonna take?" Shane interrupted the two. "If she wakes up while you're gone she's not gonna stick around, I can promise ya that." Raf looked at me, a hand on his chin.

"He's right, Raf. How do you know this femme so well, Shane? You didn't crash land with her. She isn't a spacecraft. And why exactly would you stick around after getting a look? Most humans would have called the authorities." Bumblebee didn't look away from whatever he was doing to Skylink's insides.

"I saw her crash and rushed over to see if the pilot was still inside... And well, the rest is obvious." Shane replied with a shrug of broad shoulders.

"How did you know she's a youngling? Humans have no way of knowing the age of Cybertronians." Shoulders shrugged again at Bumblebee's question.

"I just knew. I could tell. I know kids. Worked with troubled teens since I was one myself. If she were human I'd say she just got out on her own. Unsure, naive... She reminds me of kids that got kicked around by somebody bigger than them, enough to leave a scar up here." Shane tapped his head and Bumblebee's expressive eyes flicked to him, an odd look in the blue orbs for a second before nodding as he went back to work on her. Shane took a good look at the robot. The black things on his back that looked like bulky wings were actually car doors. His wide rounded shoulders were wheel wells... And wheels. The other wheels were part of his large, heavy looking feet. Head lights were on his chest. He was mostly black but he could tell just by looking that his car... Form had a yellow stripe or two. One big one down the middle. The more he looked, the more car parts he could pick out.

"Most bots our size have gotten... Kicked around... By bigger bots. But you're right, something worse happened to her..." Bumblebee remarked. "Cybertronians aren't afraid of each other..."

A groan of pain stopped their conversation a split second after Bee snapped her side panel closed. He transformed his hand... Back to a hand and seemed to stay still, his hands up and hovering just back from Skylink. The moment her eyes lit up she was away from the other robot. Bee hadn't moved an inch, only watched her. She leapt back and landed in a wobbly crouch, her claws digging into the Earth, her eyes hard. They flicked to Shane and Raf and then back to the unmoving robot, still kneeling on the ground.

"You still need repairs. Come with us, and I'll help you." Bumblebee spoke softly, still without moving... _I'm starting to like that guy... Robot... Autobot..._ Shane thought as he watched Bumblebee.

"Thank you for helping me, Autobot... I owe you a debt. But I will manage from here, on my own. I will not linger here. Please, forget you ever saw me." At her words Bumblebee frowned, a sad look coming into his blue eyes.

"I can repair you fully, at our base. It won't be any trouble, Skylink. Please, come with me." Bee was on his feet now and Shane started moving closer to Skylink, a wary feeling coming over him but Raf grabbed his arm and silently shook his head.

"No." Came her reply and with one last look at Shane she leapt into the air and transformed, all in less than a second! It was so strange and fast his brain couldn't take it all in! The noise he now knew meant they were transforming faded when she finished. Her engines flared up with a powerful rush of air and sound.

"I'm sorry, youngling." Shane heard Bumblebee speak before a small compartment on his right forearm flicked open and he ran his metal fingers over a screen there. Instantly, visible electric currents rolled over the black jet before her engines cut out with a loud boom that echoed over the flat lands like thunder.

Bumblebee rushed forward and quite literally snatched the jet right out of the air before it could hit, like it weighed no more than a big pillow. He settled the jet on to the ground almost gently.

"Hey! You promised not to hurt her!" Shane rushed forward, placing himself between the jet and the massive robot. Not the smartest thing a human could do...

Raf rushed over. "He didn't! I swear! All that did was make her freeze up. It kinda, paralyzed her... We're sorry, it's just that Bee is the protector of all of Earth-

"Enough Raf. Let's go. And, Shane, you're coming too." Bumblebee cut him off, his voice strangely grim.


End file.
